Regarding Bella
by ReadingTwilight
Summary: A oneshot. The conversation in New Moon between Charlie and Jacob, regarding Bella. Charlie's POV.


**Author's Note:** Well, my first one shot went over rather well so I decided I'd try it again. This is another one that nagged at me, forcing itself to be written. All characters are the great Stephenie Meyer's and not mine (darn :-( ) This is the conversation in New Moon between Charlie and Billy about Jacob and Bella. For those interested, the conversation is located on pages 274-275 of NM and yes, most of the dialogue of Charlie's is Stephenie Meyer's as well. Please R & R with comments, advice, and/or requests for oneshots etc.

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**Regarding Bella**

I watched as Bella trudged up the stairs, a broken expression on her face. I leaned on the counter, putting my face in my hands. At times like these, I felt like Bella was not the grown teenager that I knew she was. She was my little girl again and she was hurting. I couldn't stand by and let her slip back into her lifeless state. Looking up at the phone, I made a split second decision. That was my little girl upstairs and she was hurting. I wasn't going to stand by and let it happen. Dialing the number, I put the phone to my ear, glancing towards the stairs. I heard the water turn on just as someone answered the phone.

"Black Residence," Billy said his voice cheerful.

"Billy? Charlie Swan here"

"Ah, Charlie, what can I do you for?"

I turned towards the kitchen window, staring out of it absentmindedly.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about Jacob…"

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Did he do something wrong?"

"Well, no but Bella and I were talking. She is worried about him, Billy. She thinks that he may be in trouble."

"What sort of trouble?" Billy asked, his voice instantly concerned.

"Well, she says that he's been hanging out a lot with Sam Uley and that Sam told him that Bella couldn't be friends with Jacob."

"I don't see Sam saying anything like that…" Billy said confidently, all traces of worry vanishing. "I think Bella's just worrying too much about nothing. Sam's a good kid."

"As far as I know he is," I said, beginning to get frustrated. "But Bella's been telling me some odd things. Jacob doesn't hang out with his friends anymore, including Bella and doesn't return calls. He goes out with Sam though even when you've been telling Bella that he's been sick and Bella told me that he was terrified of Sam before now."

"He has been sick," Billy said calmly. "Maybe Jacob just lost interest in Bella…"

I felt my stomach clench out, as it often did when I got angry. Jacob losing interest in Bella?

"I'm not buying that. It doesn't make any sense."

"Well, maybe Bella shouldn't have lead him on—"

"Don't you put this on Bella!" I shouted, my hand clenching up into a tight fist. How dare he? I took a deep breath to regain my composure.

"Bella's made it very clear all along that she and Jacob were just friends." I said, keeping my voice very controlled.

"Well, Jacob's been saying differently," Billy insisted, "He's been making a lot of advances on Bella, yes, but she certainly hasn't been turning him down. He's told me that he just wants a little time to clear his head about the whole situation and that talking with Sam has been really helpful for him."

"Well, if that was it then why didn't you say so first?"

"I wasn't sure what the issue was about," Billy said, choosing his words carefully. "But I know that Sam is a good kid and that he'd never be involved with anything illegal or anything like that."

"No, Billy, I think she's right about this…"

"Why's that?" Billy asked, is voice irritated.

"Because I know my daughter, and if she says Jacob was scared before—"

"Maybe you don't know your daughter as well as you think you do…" Billy interrupted. "Maybe she's not being com—"

I didn't let him finish.

"What do you mean I don't know my daughter as well as I think I do!"

I was beyond angry at this point. My hand holding the phone was shaking in fury. How dare he even insinuate that?

"Maybe you should ask her about Edward Cullen," Billy said defensively.

"If you think I'm going to remind her about that, than you had better think again. She's only just starting to get over it and mostly because of Jacob, I think. If whatever Jacob has going on with this Sam character sends her back into that depression, than Jacob is going to have to answer to me. You're my friend, Billy, but this is hurting my family."

"Look I'll talk to Jacob and the boys and I'll let them know that there better not being anything illegal going on or they'll have to pay the consequences," Billy said, although I knew he was just saying it to appease me.

"You got that right—those boys set one toe out of line and I'm going to know about it. We'll be keeping an eye on the situation; you can be sure about that." I said, my voice lower now. Billy had to know that he wasn't dealing with his friend anymore. This was the chief of police investigating some fishy behavior.

"Alright, I will let them know," Billy said, "Look, Charlie, I don't want this situation to cause a rift between our two families. We've been friends for years and even our parents were friends for years."

"Fine."

"I mean it, Charlie," he said, with utmost sincerity.

"Yeah," I wasn't willing to give up the fight just yet, I was still sore about his comments.

"Alright, I'll see you around, Charlie."

"Goodbye." I said, slamming the phone back into the cradle.

I buried my face in my hands wearily. Life was so much simpler when Bella was still in diapers and Renee was still here. I sighed, standing up to grab my jacket and my gun. Perhaps a night of work would help take my mind off things…


End file.
